ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alan Trock is an attorney who lives with his wife in Southern California. He has been an admirer of Abraham Lincoln for over forty years and has read and traveled extensively in pursuit of his studies about Lincoln’s life and times – as well as that historic event. For insight into the motivation for writing the book, click below.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is still one of the great tragedies of American history. Lincoln’s heroic life and untimely death has inspired many to dream of going back in time to save him from the assassin John Wilkes Booth. This thrilling suspense novel is a must-read for all Lincoln devotees and anyone who has ever felt the burning desire to try and change history.

Thoughts that led to the writing of “36 Hours to Save the President”

There are over 15,000 books about Abraham Lincoln. What sets my story apart from those is that I thought it would be interesting to examine the dynamic between Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth in the hours leading up to the assassination. The introduction of a fictional third person – time traveler Alex Linwood – examines his interaction with Booth and Lincoln, almost as if the three of them were entwined in a type of dance.

As the morning of April 14th dawned, no one could have foreseen the events leading up to the murder of the President later that evening. In fact, throughout the entire day, the activities of both Lincoln and Booth were fluid and variable.

Lincoln’s initial plans had him attending a play, but at another theater. However, Mary Lincoln wanted to see Our American Cousin. At first, General Grant and his wife were invited to be their guests, but they turned down the invitation. Would Grant’s presence, and perhaps an attaché assigned to the General, have made a difference?

Booth originally wanted to kidnap the President but missed his chance to do so several times – all because Lincoln’s schedules were altered on those occasions so that he was not where the conspirators thought he would be. Now upon learning the Lincolns were to appear at Ford’s Theatre on the evening of April 14th, would Booth be able to carry out his diabolical plot?

On that fateful day, with each not knowing what the other was doing, the time traveler allows the reader to peek behind the scenes as the momentous hour approached.